January 26, 2023
Jason Diamond Quoted
by DJ Shaw
Attracting and retaining top talent are key to the success of any registered investment advisor firm, and despite economic headwinds, firms say this has become a top focus, according to a recent study.
Among firms with at least $250 million in assets under management, 80% of those surveyed last year said they planned to hire, according to Charles Schwab’s 2022 RIA Compensation Report, released in December. The survey, fielded from January to March of last year, queried more than 13,500 employees across 971 advisory firms.
Even as advisors are starting to put more emphasis on feeling fulfilled at work, they also understand that value can take many different forms, says Jason Diamond, vice president and senior consultant at advisor recruiting firm Diamond Consultants. Advisors considering a broker-dealer want to be able to leverage a sophisticated brand and investment platform, administrative and billing support, and good technology.
“[For] those firms, when it comes to advisor comp, it’s purely a matter of value versus firm keep,” Diamond says. “The question becomes, if the firm is keeping 55 cents on every dollar, more than half of the revenue you earn, are they providing enough value relative to that?”
Support from the firm is important to advisors and they seek it regardless of whether the firm is a broker-dealer or independent, Diamond adds.
“That can be human support but also just technology and platform support. When something breaks, is there somebody that I can turn to to fix it? If I need help with something, do I have the proper admin support and staff?” Diamond says. “If my firm is taking more than half my paycheck, they had better be delivering value commensurate with that.”
